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Salary: USD 180,000 - 230,000 / annual
Efficient Computer is seeking its first dedicated Director of Information Security to build and lead the company's security and IT operations from the ground up. The company is a hardware/semiconductor innovator focused on energy-efficient computing for AI, with recent Series B funding and shipping products to defense and government customers.
You will own the complete security program and, initially, IT operations end-to-end. Your responsibilities span:
**Security & Compliance:**
- Design and enforce protection of source code, compiler toolchain, and hardware designs (classification, encryption, storage, access control)
- Own access models across engineering systems: repository permissions, credential governance, and recurring access reviews
- Establish controls for sensitive technical data held under third-party confidentiality obligations
- Build evidence of reasonable trade secret protection measures
- Secure the developer-heavy, multi-platform engineering environment and software supply chain (dependencies, build pipelines, release integrity, compiler security)
- Own network and infrastructure security architecture, detection, logging, and incident response
- Lead NIST SP 800-171 and CMMC compliance programs: assessments, system security plans, POA&Ms, remediation, and audit readiness
- Own technical implementation of export control obligations: access segregation, U.S.-person gating for controlled technology, deemed export analysis
- Establish policies and controls for handling sensitive and controlled information
**IT Operations (initially):**
- Manage day-to-day IT across all offices: hardware, software, accounts, and access
- Run onboarding/offboarding end-to-end: provisioning, deprovisioning, access reviews, equipment lifecycle
- Manage device fleet and MDM: configuration baselines, patching, disk encryption, endpoint security
- Administer identity and access: SSO, MFA, automated user provisioning, role-based access
- Own office IT infrastructure across multiple sites: networking, Wi-Fi with certificate-based authentication, physical access systems
- Manage IT vendors, licensing, and renewals
**Strategic Leadership:**
- Lead security side of customer, partner, and investor diligence (security questionnaires, government customer reviews)
- Set and administer AI tool usage policies for sensitive material; own AI tool spend and seat management
- Serve as company's data protection and privacy lead
- Build security and IT roadmap for scaling headcount, offices, and customer requirements
- Advise leadership on security and IT strategy, budget, and build-vs-buy decisions
- Hire and onboard first dedicated IT Manager, then transition to focus fully on security
This is a hands-on role requiring both policy ownership and technical execution (console work, configurations, architecture reviews). You'll report to the Head of Legal and Compliance, sit on the Operations team, and hold a standing seat in engineering architecture review. Willingness to travel ~25% between offices required.
**Requirements:**
- 7+ years in information security, including time as founding or sole security owner at a company, or as the person who built a program from scratch
- Genuine hands-on depth: ability to configure controls on developer workstations and build infrastructure, not just specify them
- Practical experience securing source code and developer infrastructure: source control platforms, CI/CD, secrets management, cloud infrastructure
- Working knowledge of NIST SP 800-171, CMMC, or comparable federal framework; ideally having taken a company through an assessment
- IT operations depth to run independently: MDM, identity providers/SSO, automated user lifecycle management, multi-site networking
- Comfort with identity and access architecture: SSO, MFA, least privilege, access reviews
- Service mindset paired with strategic judgment; ability to balance fast support with permanent problem-solving
- Clear written communication; ability to explain security decisions and adapt when challenged
- U.S. person status required (U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident) due to export control regulations
**Nice to Have:**
- Experience with export-controlled technical data (EAR or ITAR), CUI, or facility clearance processes
- Semiconductor, hardware, or EDA environment experience
- Federal or defense customer security requirements experience
- Security certifications (CISSP, GIAC, CMMC CCP/CCA)
- Scripting and automation (Python, Bash, infrastructure as code)
- Experience rolling out or governing AI tools in company settings
